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‘Chair-shy-re?’
said the Vice President.

‘Cheshire, it’s
pronounced. How the hell have they covered everything up so bloody
quickly? There was a high tech lab where they even rebuilt me
there… and the ‘V’ room. Surely that’s still there?’ said
Madeline.

‘They found a
basement room – completely empty.’

Time stood
still whilst Madeline thought about certain things…

Nuttall was
getting very good at this. His lying had become compulsive. MI 7
was a lie, the $100,000 watch was a lie, torturing Adam was a lie,
which was a good thing
… and now Capesdown hall was mostly a
lie. They had certainly meddled significantly with her body but
‘upgrade’? The Chloro Bromine for her bones and the carbon nanotube
for her skin, was that bullshit too? She remembered thinking at the
time that considering she had a completely rebuilt body, she felt
no different and looked no different. However she had repelled
quite a few bullets over the last week or so and they did spend
several days doing something to her and it wasn’t just installing a
satellite phone in her head – time started moving again.

During the time
that time had stood still, an anomaly within an anomaly, the
President had somehow managed to enter the room.

‘So that’s it…
You’ve saved the day – the world. Well done Madeline,’ said the
President.

‘You think so?
Something’s not right. It’s been too easy. Such a colossally
elaborate and intricate plan but so easily thwarted?’

‘Easily for
you, not for mere mortals.’

There’s
something else going on here, there has to be… and I’ve got a
feeling I’m at the heart of it. Have you still got the HDU4
facilities up and running at Bangor… Maine?’ asked Madeline.

‘HDU4? Never
heard of it,’ said the vice President.

‘Err, yes we
have,’ interrupted the defence secretary.

‘A need to know
basis,’ said the President.

‘Well maybe I
should damn well know about it!’ boomed the vice President.

The HDU4’s were
the American version of a Madeline Bull and except for a few minor
differences: being male, being evil and being completely
automanous, they were sort of similar. One significant difference
though, there were thousands of HDU4’s but only ever one Madeline
Bull. Naturally Madeline defeated them with the help of a few
scientists and her USB toe - they all ended up in a crusher.

‘I could do
with someone checking me over. I have a feeling that something
inside me… I mean… something that’s not usually inside me… I mean
not intended to be there… I mean, somebody’s put something inside
me that I haven’t asked to be put inside me….’

How
embarrassing, she was in the company of the President of the USA
and was rambling euphemisms by the bucket load. She blushed as best
as androids can. This prompted a few uncontrollable grins from her
audience.

‘No problem,
we’ll get our technicians to check you over,’ said the President
remaining professional at all times.

Chapter 34: A
golden moment

Madeline had
saved the planet – again. How could they refuse her? The President
organised a helicopter to pick her up. She was becoming accustomed
to this form of transport. It was certainly different from the last
time she was taken to Bangor, Maine – in a limo, in-between two
beefy men wearing dark sun glasses. The 450 mile trip would take
well under two hours – a good opportunity to talk to her father
figure.

‘Barton, are
you there…’

‘
Yes, I’m
here.’

‘How is the
precious cargo in Barton’s Meats of chilly Buxton?’

‘
You’re
heart rates steady and normal, drug free now. The gel suit appears
to be helping your skin to heal nicely...’

‘Good… that’s…
good.’

This was
perhaps too much information, she decided to change the
subject.

‘Have you heard
from Adam?’

‘
No, not a
peep.’

‘Okay, keep me
informed.’

‘
Will
do.’

Madeline found
it nice and comforting to have the occasional short chat with
Barton. He was there most of the time and she could chat to him any
time she wanted but she knew it wasn’t wise to have too much of a
good thing.

A good hour of
the flight passed peacefully. She flew over New York and saw the
Statue of liberty then she flew over New London, New Bedford and
New Manchester – she almost felt at home.

And then the
relaxing peaceful journey abruptly came to an end. Madeline didn’t
need to go to the HDU4 facilities because suddenly, without
warning, she found out exactly what Nuttall’s people had put inside
her. Her mouth opened involuntarily and after a second or two, the
pilot and co-pilot started to behave strangely. They stopped their
idle chatter, sat upright and started saying things like: ‘I obey’,
‘will comply’ and ‘I understand master’.

‘
I suppose
you deserve an explanation,
’ said Nuttall in Madeline’s
head.

‘U-all! Ooo
arr-ole… ot er ell?’ Madeline couldn’t speak too well with her
mouth wide open.

She took the
jamming device out of her pocket and checked to see if the green
light was still glowing – it was.

‘
I have to
admit it was fortunate having a junior clerk working in the
Situation room. He a little play with your jamming device.’

‘Ow ong ave ou
een is-en-ing?’

‘
Long enough
to know everything… What a nice chap Barton is, isn’t he?’

This was bad,
very bad indeed. She tried to remember exactly what she said - then
she remembered. She gave the entire game away in one short
sentence:
How is the precious cargo in Barton’s Meats of chilly
Buxton.
He only had to put two and two together and he would
know. Even if he didn’t add the numbers up, his men were probably
already on their way to Buxton to see exactly what the precious
cargo was. She was now vulnerable and this was very worrying. Her
mouth now closed, the pilot and co-pilot were completely under the
spell.

‘What’s
happened to the pilot and co pilot?’

‘
You’ve done
it, that’s what we did to you. We turned you into a mobile
ultrasound emitter – we can program you to have the same effect as
the horns you unnecessarily destroyed at our very expensive
Antarctica base.’

‘Done what?
What the hell have I done?’

The pilot and
co pilot didn’t seem to be bothered that their passenger was
yelling angrily to herself.

‘
Let me
spell it out. We have modified your speech system to emit an
ultrasound signal.’

‘Irritating I
admit but completely pointless if I don’t cooperate.’

‘
Madeline,
Madeline… I know what scares you. Other people it’s spiders, for
you it’s fire. That shop in Buxton… I suspect it will burn up a
treat… What do you think Barton?’

‘Barton? Are
you there!?’ inquired Madeline in astonishment.

‘
Come on
Barton, say a few words… please,
’ said Nuttall menacingly.

‘
Sorry
Madeline, couldn’t stop them. They know everything,’
said
Barton.

‘Shit… Don’t
worry about it, Pops, I’ll sort a way out of this,’ said Madeline
confidently.

As things go,
they really couldn’t get any worse. Nuttall now knew Madeline’s
most closely guarded secret. No longer could she confide in Barton
with her troubles and no longer did she have a feeling of
invincibility – her real body was now threatened with fire - by far
her worst phobia.

‘Nuttall face
facts, it’s all over. You don’t have the emitters at the South Pole
anymore,’ said Madeline, scratching around for points.

‘
They served
their purpose,
’ said Nuttall.

‘But
everybody’s now friends again,’ said Madeline.

‘
That was
the whole point but do you really think that was the main purpose
of the South Pole array? I’ve told you, there’s far more afoot than
just irritating the Americans. Let me make it clearer for you… the
name at the end of the messages?

‘You mean Mark
Titoo? Madeline suggested.

‘
Well… yes.
We got the translations slightly wrong but yes, Mark
Titoo.’

Madeline wasn’t
following Nuttall at all, she needed it spelling out even more.

‘
It seems
that we’re now all conditionally programmed,
’ explained Barton
solemnly.

‘
Give the
man a biscuit – precisely, a name tagged on to the hate America
message – that name is now implanted in everyone’s subconscious.
All it will take is an ultrasound transmission with that name and
an instruction and people will do exactly what we tell them just
like the pilot and co-pilot in front of you,’
said Nuttall
proudly.

‘So what
exactly are you hoping to achieve? Such an elaborate, intricate and
expensive scheme, you must have some huge expectations?’ asked
Madeline.

‘
You really
don’t grasp the implications, do you? We now control the world,
control everyone.’

‘The sound of a
true megalomaniac. You do realise you’re insane, very clever but
completely, utterly insane… So where am I been taken?’

‘
You’ll find
out shortly, call it our first test.’

This then, it
transpires was the point of the ultrasound brainwashing. The whole
world had been targeted; no one escaped hearing the ultrasound. The
message in the ultrasound was to hate the USA but it seems this was
just something convenient to pad out the message. A hidden
subliminal trigger at the end of the message which just happened to
be an innocent name – Mark Titoo was the important bit. There was a
count down timer on the console panel in the Antarctica base which
Madeline took no notice of. When the timer reached zero, which
happened to be almost two days before the flotilla reached American
shores, the ultrasound was to be switched off – job done – world
conditionally programmed.

Obviously the
Americans didn’t know this - they panicked and sent a nuclear
missile.

Shortly, was
the wrong word. It was still a pleasant flight however, high over
the Appalachian Mountains and then the beautiful green lands of
Charleston. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, she
didn’t really care. Her thoughts were with Adam – where was he? How
was he? Was he even still alive? How the hell, was she going to
find him with the control Nuttall had over her?

She had to find
a way of finally shielding herself from his communications – that
would give her some breathing space. Then she had to make safe her
tank and her real body. Then she had to protect Barton, she owed
her life to him countless times – it was the least she had to do.
She had an awful lot of challenges facing her. For now though, she
had to go along with this ‘experiment’. As long as no lives were in
danger, she would go through with it – that would be the condition
– even if she knew was in no position to make conditions.

Two and a half
hours later, the helicopter landed slap bang in the middle of a
large complex consisting of many bland flat roofed concrete
buildings, office building and countless large car parks. Madeline
had no idea where she was or why the helicopter should be greeted
by dozens of heavily armed American soldiers.

‘Okay, where
are we and what have I got to do?’ asked Madeline
apprehensively.

‘
United
States Bullion Depository, otherwise know as Fort Knox.’

‘You have got
to be kidding me.’

‘
Just a
little robbery.’

‘Forget it, I’m
robbing no bank,’ said Madeline adamantly.

‘
You’re not,
just get out, stand there and look pretty,’
said Nuttall inside
her head.

‘How much are
you going to take, gold bars are heavy you know?’

‘
A
few.’

‘How the
hell…?’

‘
Get out,
look pretty and watch,’
said Nuttall officiously.

If that’s all
Madeline had to do, there was no problem. She was extremely good at
looking pretty, it was her main talent. She climbed out of the
helicopter and before her feet touched the ground, twenty or so
high powered rifles were pointing directly at her.

A single armed
guard, beefier than the rest, bawled at her, ‘Hands up, legs apart,
on the floor!’

‘Okay, okay,
patience,’ said Madeline in her usual cheeky tone. ‘Now then, what
was it? Oh yes… hands up.’

She put her
hands up.

‘Legs apart, on
the floor.’

She slid down
in to the splits position.

‘Anything
else?’

The experience
of being frozen stiff for several days in the South Pole, it has to
be said, hadn’t affected her flexibility or marred her stunning
looks in anyway. The armed guards were well trained and didn’t
appear to be distracted at all by the gymnastic display from the
gorgeous provocative visitor. These guards were made of sterner
stuff. They were American’s finest, specially chosen to protect the
gold reserves of the USA. In fact it wasn’t until Madeline opened
her mouth and emitted the subtle and silent ultrasound signal that
things began to change. Presumable there were complex instructions
in the message as all the guards stood perfectly still for about
twenty seconds whilst they processed what their subconscious had
heard.

From out of
nowhere came a convoy of six butch looking black trucks with
enormous eight axle trailers. The noise of the trucks drowned out
the sound of the helicopter taking off behind her. The first of the
convoy skilfully reversed up to a particularly ugly concrete
building in the centre of the complex. Many guards now gathered,
organised themselves and within minutes were loading the truck with
another convoy of fork lift trucks. The fork lift trucks were each
loaded with a quantity of gold ingots. After ten minutes the weight
of the valuable cargo was taking its toll on the truck’s
suspension. Sixty tons was its limit and that’s exactly how much
weight of gold was loaded in the back of the trailer. The loading
process was then repeated on the next truck. It was like a
perfectly choreographed dance, no one put a foot wrong or a fork
lift truck at the wrong height or a truck in the wrong place.
Madeline remained in the splits position helplessly agape as she
witnessed the biggest robbery in history taking place before her
eyes - Three billion dollars worth of gold in each of the six
trucks. She, of course, had no choice but to remain speechless
whilst emitting the brainwashing message - It was extremely
difficult to talk properly with her mouth wide open. All credit to
the modus operandi of the crime however; there was no violence, no
injuries and absolutely no deaths.